So I've bought quite a few things off ebay. Sold a few as well. My experience has been solid until tonight.

I picked up an item (cycling part) from the post office, got it home and opened it to find that the item I receieved, while brand new...was not the item pictured in the auction. It was very close to what was in the auction photo, but NOT the item in the photo. I contacted the seller, and to their credit they did offer to refund my money if I sent it back, but said "the item in the auction picture is what I sent you." It clearly is not. This is a slightly older version of the same part. It's new/old stock basically as far as I can tell. I explained the differences and why this clearly was not the same part, but the seller says it's the same one. It's not.

Here's the thing...I still got a good deal on the item. Although I'll now have to shop for the correct item, I've decided it's less hassle just to leave a routine sounding positive feedback and be done with the transaction. But what is pictured in the auction is what a seller should be sending the buyer. Not "something that's really close." Just kinda' sad to have this happen after so many good experiences. But I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later.

One of my housemates bought a fishing reel from a store somewhere 2 years ago for about $200. He's been using it for the two years and decided to sell it on ebay. Sold for almost $500!! Must be some kind of antique or something

haha...ol' judge wapner! I will not post the seller's name and I'd prefer to wait until he has left feedback before showing any pictures of what he advertized versus what I received. Although there is not much difference between the two things.... they are definately different in appearence and weight.

I already decided to keep it. I don't want the negative feedback on my account if the seller decided to get pissy. So since the part was still a good deal...I'm gonna keep it and keep my eyes open for another. My best friend had somebody leave him scathing feedback last year over something that was resolved. Even though it was resolved and both parties said they were satisfied, the seller left negative feedback anyway. You never know.

I've been ebaying for years, since it was a Pez trading site. Not nearly the volume of many people, but I guess I've been in it for a while. I've had two bad experiences. In both cases, an item I bought and paid for was never sent. Both were small items, below eBay's limit of filing a serious-enough complaint to get anyone to take action.

The first item was a set of bootleg Phish albums. In that case, I think the kid was just too drugged up to realize what was going on. We emailed back and forth half a dozen times just to communicate the most basic information. Then, weeks passed with nothing. More emails, and he claimed that he couldn't find the tapes, but promised to send me a different Phish bootleg instead. Nothing after that. I wrote it off, since it was only like $8 or something. The second time was a scammer selling RAM. Not an obvious scammer, mind you. He was pretty sneaky. But again, it was like $12, so nothing happened.

In college, my roomie and I bought and sold computer parts. This was back in the day when descriptions with pictures were pretty rare, so it wasn't always obvious what you were buying. That was good for us, since we could do a little research and get stuff that other people had passed over because it was described poorly. Then, we'd list it ourselves with big creative formatting and lots of photos.

Recently, my brother's been making a mint off TI calculators - the programmable ones like the 83, etc. He hits garage sales on the weekend and picks them up for $10 or $20, then sells them on eBay for $60 - $80, depending on the model.

I've recently gotten hooked again buying and selling bike parts. So if anyone on here is regularly bidding on 650c rims or wheels, we've probably competed on at least a few auctions.

My item is about $79 retail and I bought it shipped for $40. It is technically very close to what the seller was advertising, but clearly not the same item. But is it really worth my time to get into a pissing contest over something like this....not in my opinion. I'd rather keep my 100% feedback rating and move on. I will never buy from that particular seller again. That's for sure.

Now that the sale is officially closed and the seller has not left me negative feedback, I will show everyone what I bought versus what I was sent. I will not mention the sellers ebay I.D. But here's the comparision:

The first photo was the actual auction photo as posted by the seller on ebay. It shows a set of 2004 - 2006 Bontrager Ti skewers with the red logos on the sides and the white B logos on the levers weighing 78 gram per pair. (I have two other sets of these btw.)

The second photo shows the pair that the seller actually sent me with one of my skewers (like the ones I paid for) in front of them as a reference. The ones I got are circa 2003 never used in new condition with ti axles and no B logos on the levers. They are not the ones I bid on and weight 81 grams per pair(not the 78 grams advertised). I kept them, because they were still a pretty good buy and the seller argued that he "sent me the exact pair in the auction photo." so I knew there was no winning the argument for what they cost.

Here's your chance to be the judge. IMO..I clearly did not get the same ones that are in the auction photo.

I'm constantly amazed at the crap pictures people put on ebay. Maybe it is on purpose but for cryin' out loud it's not that hard to take a decent pic. I think some of these pics are being shot in the closet.

I'm constantly amazed at the crap pictures people put on ebay. Maybe it is on purpose but for cryin' out loud it's not that hard to take a decent pic. I think some of these pics are being shot in the closet.

there are many activities done in closets these days...
and cycle, i cant see the difference bud! Im squinting as hard as I can!

Ummm...O.K. But a picture of the other side is not really necessary to tell that they are not the same.

Perhaps you're not that discerning, and perhaps the auction photo doesn't depict it clear enough. But the second photo that I took with the three skewers in it shows one of mine..(which is exactly like the ones in the auction photo with the blue background).. then the two that the seller sent me right behind it.

Now notice that mine(the one in the front) has a red Bontrager B logo with the circle around it where the axle meets the skewer/flip handle? Notice how the other two don't? They just have the bare metal ends of the pivot pins that hold the skewers together.

Also notice how on the end of my skewer lever there is a white laser etched Bontrager B logo and the other two skewers don't have this? That is becasue they are the older, slightly heavier , slightly different model.

Although it's not a big difference...it IS a difference, both in weight and in graphics. They are not the exact ones pictured in the auction. That's what I'm upset about. When I sell things on ebay, I take a clear picture of the item and the winning bidder gets that EXACT item. Not "something really close." IMO the original auction picture, while not the clearest...definately shows a pair of the newer style skewers like I have (and included a sample of in the second photo). That's not what I received. That's all.

P.S. The seller had a 99.9 percent feedback rating with a lot of auctions/transactions.

This makes it harder to see the amount of times they screwed someone over. A person with 50 feedbacks and 2 negatives and their percentage tanks.

A person with 10,000 and 50 wouldn't even ding their bottom line. This feedback system is pretty damn stupid. They need to give people the ability to filter negative feedback only. But this would hurt ebays bottom line, right? There are hardly any deals to be had on ebay anymore with everyone ripping on shipping and what not.